In the first place, when I arrived in Modesto I was really happy to see my teammates: Tony Dzoan, Michael Cosgrove, and Roy Taylor, at which I told everyone of them to have good luck during the race.
The Race started at 8:10 am with the whole course being plane and in good condition, each lap being 9 miles. When the race started we were going at a moderate pace and little by little the speed started increasing. The whole time I was in the first 10. On the last turn everyone started increasing their speed. At one kilometer, everyone started getting excited and wanted to go on the front. When there were 200 meters left, I was somewhere in the front. When I tried to sprint I stood up and tried adjusting my front derailleur and right when I changed it, my chain jumped, which caused me to loose control and to fall, but right when I fell, I stood up immediately. I fixed the chain and got on the road, but my back derailleur was touching the wheel’s spokes and I got off, once again, to fix it. But still I finished the race, in which at first the people recording the places one got, told me that I had gotten fourteenth place. Right when I got home, I checked my record to only find that it said I had gotten 28th place and it also said that I had raced in Category 4, when I had actually raced in Category 5. But other than that, the race went well, but the results from my fall were a few scratches on my elbow, shoulder, back, and my thigh. The fall caused my jersey to tore from the shoulder and I probably will have to buy a new jersey. The bicycle also got hurt, where my seat broke, got a crack in my derailleur’s holder, and the back ring had some damages. Hopefully the next race I will do better and have better luck.
Gonzalo Carrillo